With The New System Down On Lanes, Some Bowlers Find Scores Going Up

BOWLING

The season is a couple of weeks old, and it's time to talk about theeffect of the new system of bowling on the scores.

At Brunswick Normandy, the scores are great. Since the season started there have been three 700 series thrown. Dave Mandelson had a 712, Rob Keyser threw a 724 and Artis Booker had a 736.

Part of the reason for the high scores is the fact that the lanesare being stripped every day. That means that the back end is grabbing, giving a solid shot into the pocket. Keeping the last 15 or 20 feet of the lane from building up a carry-down of oil means the ball isreacting well.

Jim Russ likes the new system. On Sept. 12, in theThursday Night Mixed League, Russ threw his first 300 game.

Russ,22, has been bowling for only three years and bowls in only one other league, the Sunday Night Mixed at Columbia. Last year, he carried a159 average and he's had a 615 series. Nope, he didn't have the 615 when he threw the 300 game.

But there's a reason for that.

"I was late coming in at the center on Thursday and it took me a game-and-a-half to calm down," Russ said. "About halfway through the second game I found a line that I liked."

You bet he did. His first game was a 140, the second game a 162. By the third game, Russ had really found his line.

Russ, a van driver for the Howard County Association for Retarded Citizens, lives in Fulton and started bowling because he and a friend dropped in at the Columbia bowling center to take advantage of an 89-cents-a-game special.

"You could say I tried it and I liked it," he said. "Bowling is a lot of fun and I'll stay with it."

Tournament news

The Harvest Mixed Doubles is scheduled for the weekends of October 19-20 and October 26-27 at Bowl America Glen Burnie.

It's ABC/WIBC-sanctioned, and the Baltimore Bowling Council event benefits the B.V.L. Fund for Hospitalized Veterans. First prize is $500.